Secretary of the US Navy, Ray Mabus, announced on September 15th, 2015, that the next Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) will be named USS Tulsa (LCS 16).

The selection of the name honors Oklahoma’s second largest city. Tulsa will be the second commissioned ship to bear the name. The first, a patrol gunboat commissioned in 1923, conducted training exercises in Central America and sent its Marines and Sailors ashore to protect life and property during civil unrest in Nicaragua during the 1920s. The first Tulsa also operated during World War II and received two battle stars for its work patrolling shores in China and the Philippines and for serving as an escort to supply ships in Australia. During this time, Tulsa was part of the rescue operation of the British merchant ship City of Manchester.